


That Push and Pull of His

by ThatOneHand



Series: That Series of Theirs [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Clubbing, Dancing, Internalized Homophobia, LGBTQ Themes, Latino Character, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:40:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28802958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatOneHand/pseuds/ThatOneHand
Summary: He wanted to understand this dance. He wanted intimacy, a push and a pull.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Series: That Series of Theirs [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097354
Kudos: 1





	That Push and Pull of His

He had been on this club for almost an hour. Just drinking, and from time to time, moving his hips to the beat. He liked this specific club because they played mostly latin songs, although the crowd was in the majority white. The dim lights, mainly in warm tones, gave the place a hot vibe. A restless vibe. A song he recognized as a tango started, and he saw the people on the dance floor come closer together, grinding against each other. It was all wrong, uncultured. Over his slight indignation, he barely noticed a figure slip next to him. He only registered it when the other started talking.

“Hi, you looked pretty lonely here.” He started. “I assumed you would want some company?” He looked away from the dance floor, and to the guy talking to him. He looked him up and down. He had dark blonde hair, his hair messy, probably from dancing. His eyes were a bold blue, almost indiscernible under the light of the club. He wore a simple outfit; denim shirt, jeans, and sneakers, online his own; a tight, white button up shirt his mother always said looked good on him, tucked into black chino pants, with some simple brown shoes. The other man rose his hand, in a hand shaking position. “Name’s Carl.” He said cooly.

“Jonathan.” He shook Carl’s hand. He was awkward. He had always been. But something about talking to this guy made his stomach turn in nervousness. He was… attractive was not a word he was allowed to use to describe men, but if there was a man he would find attractive…

They talked, for a bit. About anything, really. About each others lives, and jobs, and dreams, and hopes. A few songs passed, before a new one started. He recognized the beat made by the _tamboras_ , and the distinctive sound of the _güira_. He couldn’t help move his hips, and at a point his whole body to the rhythm. Carl noticed it, and pulled him towards the dance floor. He tried to push away, but the other wouldn’t let him. He finally gave up, smiling slightly. Carl grabbed his hand, and put his other hand on his shoulder. Even though Jonathan was shorter than him, he let him guide, as he was the most experienced of the two.

“What is this? Tango?” He shook his head.

Tango was a competition, a race. Whoever seduced the other first, won. Merengue, on the other hand, was of intimacy. Of a pull, and a push. Of two people, and their trust, and their passion.

He remembered when he had been taught this dance. They had separated the girls and the boys, and put them in two lines on opposite sides of the classroom, facing each other. The boys had danced forward, and the girls had danced back backwards, and the boys had danced backwards and the girls forward. Push and pull, push and pull. Slowly pulling closer, slowly pushing farther. Until they were almost on top of each other, when the teacher had told them to grab the person they were facing. The girl he was facing hadn’t hesitated for a second, as she grabbed his hand with hers, and put her other in his shoulder. He followed suit half a second later, putting his free hand on her waist, avoiding pulling her closer than strictly necessary. At that time it hadn’t been an intimate moment, and he hadn’t want it to be. Neither had she. They were just two classmates trying to impress their teacher.

This was different, though. This time, his hand was resting on the lower back of his companion, and the man’s hand laid softly on his shoulder, in a way he was incredibly conscious it was there. Holding him close, stopping him from pushing too far. As was the hand on his back, pulling him towards himself.

He was hyperaware of the moment. Of the stares, and the murmuring. Of the touches and the closeness of their bodies.

He came from a conservative country, a religious one. His mother had taught him to pray, and his father had taught him to fight. And his sister had been taught to sew, and his brother had been taught to never cry. And then he had been allowed to be taught to dance the Merengue, his home country’s national dance. He had been allowed _one_ liberty, and he had discovered it all. How his lack of intimacy with women was not due to awkwardness, or due to plain lack of the interest of women towards him. It was something dark, evil, he had been taught. A sin. A sin that made him understand the true meaning of Merengue. One that made his dance ten times better. One that moved his hips at the beat of the music, side to side. One that gave him a push, and a pull.

He guided the other man’s dance, as their hips moved at unison, to the fast tempo. They twirled around, moving graciously across the dance floor. They trusted each others movements, not even looking down at their feet, not breaking eye contact. The song had stopped long ago, but they were still in the same position. The stares hadn't stopped. The murmurs hadn't stopped. And he wasn't sure if the fear would ever stop. 

Without a care, their lips found each other, in a different kind of dance. When Jonathan danced backwards, Carl danced forwards, and when Jonathan danced forwards, Carl danced backwards. When one pulled, the other pushed.

When one pushed, the other pulled.

**Author's Note:**

> Since I suck at translating shit, I’m gonna copy paste the definitions from google.
> 
> The tambora (from the Spanish word tambor, meaning "drum") is a two headed drum. In many countries, and especially in the Dominican Republic, tamboras were made from salvaged rum barrels. Performers on the tambora are referred to as tamboreros.
> 
> The güira (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈɡwiɾa]) is a percussion instrument from the Dominican Republic used as a percussion instrument in merengue, bachata, and to a lesser extent, other genres such as cumbia.
> 
> PS: I was actually taught merengue that way, oh memories


End file.
